# 1976 Cleveland Indians season

The 1976 Cleveland Indians season, seen the team finish with an 81–78 win–loss record. The team scored 615 runs and allowed 615 runs for a run differential of zero.

## Offseason

* November 22, 1975: Oscar Gamble was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for Pat Dobson.
* December 9, 1975: John Ellis was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Stan Thomas and Ron Pruitt.
* December 9, 1975: Ray Fosse was purchased by the Indians from the Oakland Athletics.
* December 12, 1975: Jack Brohamer was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Larvell Blanks.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 62 | .610 | — | 45‍–‍35 | 52‍–‍27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10½ | 42‍–‍39 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15½ | 46‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 78 | .509 | 16 | 44‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 24 | 36‍–‍44 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 66 | 95 | .410 | 32 | 36‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 3–9 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 3–9 |
| California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 1–11 | 8–9 | 7–11 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 6–6 | 11–6 | 9–3 | 4–12 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 6–12 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 9–3 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–11 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 10–2 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 8–4 | — | 2–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 12–4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 28, 1976: Fritz Peterson was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Stan Perzanowski and cash.
* June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
** Joe Beckwith was drafted by the Indians in the 12th round, but did not sign.
** Ron Hassey was drafted by the Indians in the 18th round.
* October 1, 1976: Ramón Romero was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 28 | Rick Manning | CF |
| 18 | Duane Kuiper | 2B |
| 25 | Buddy Bell | 3B |
| 26 | Boog Powell | 1B |
| 21 | George Hendrick | RF |
| 9 | Rico Carty | DH |
| 24 | Charlie Spikes | LF |
| 8 | Alan Ashby | C |
| 15 | Frank Duffy | SS |
| 37 | Dennis Eckersley | P |

### Roster
## Player stats

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

### Batting

| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| Alan Ashby | 89 | 247 | 26 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 32 | .239 | 0 |
| Buddy Bell | 159 | 604 | 75 | 170 | 26 | 2 | 7 | 60 | .281 | 3 |
| Larvell Blanks | 104 | 328 | 45 | 92 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 41 | .280 | 1 |
| Rico Carty | 152 | 552 | 67 | 171 | 34 | 0 | 13 | 83 | .310 | 1 |
| Rick Cerone | 7 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .125 | 0 |
| Ed Crosby | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 |
| Frank Duffy | 133 | 392 | 38 | 83 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 30 | .212 | 10 |
| Ray Fosse | 90 | 276 | 26 | 83 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 30 | .301 | 1 |
| Orlando Gonzalez | 28 | 68 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .250 | 1 |
| Alfredo Griffin | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | 0 |
| George Hendrick | 149 | 551 | 72 | 146 | 20 | 3 | 25 | 81 | .265 | 4 |
| Doug Howard | 39 | 90 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .211 | 1 |
| Duane Kuiper | 135 | 506 | 47 | 133 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 37 | .263 | 10 |
| Joe Lis | 20 | 51 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .314 | 0 |
| John Lowenstein | 93 | 229 | 33 | 47 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 14 | .205 | 11 |
| Rick Manning | 138 | 552 | 73 | 161 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 43 | .292 | 16 |
| Boog Powell | 95 | 293 | 29 | 63 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 33 | .215 | 1 |
| Ron Pruitt | 47 | 86 | 7 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .267 | 2 |
| Frank Robinson | 36 | 67 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | .224 | 0 |
| Tommy Smith | 55 | 164 | 17 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | .256 | 8 |
| Charlie Spikes | 101 | 334 | 34 | 79 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 31 | .237 | 5 |
| Team Totals | 159 | 5412 | 615 | 1423 | 189 | 38 | 85 | 567 | .263 | 75 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jim Bibby | 13 | 7 | 3.20 | 34 | 21 | 1 | 163.1 | 162 | 61 | 58 | 56 | 84 |
| Jackie Brown | 9 | 11 | 4.25 | 32 | 27 | 0 | 180.0 | 193 | 94 | 85 | 55 | 104 |
| Tom Buskey | 5 | 4 | 3.63 | 39 | 0 | 1 | 94.1 | 88 | 42 | 38 | 34 | 32 |
| Pat Dobson | 16 | 12 | 3.48 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 217.1 | 226 | 98 | 84 | 65 | 117 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 13 | 12 | 3.43 | 36 | 30 | 1 | 199.1 | 155 | 82 | 76 | 78 | 200 |
| Don Hood | 3 | 5 | 4.87 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 77.2 | 89 | 46 | 42 | 41 | 32 |
| Jim Kern | 10 | 7 | 2.37 | 50 | 2 | 15 | 117.2 | 91 | 38 | 31 | 50 | 111 |
| Dave LaRoche | 1 | 4 | 2.24 | 61 | 0 | 21 | 96.1 | 57 | 25 | 24 | 49 | 104 |
| Harry Parker | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Fritz Peterson | 0 | 3 | 5.55 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 47.0 | 59 | 31 | 29 | 10 | 19 |
| Eric Raich | 0 | 0 | 16.88 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Stan Thomas | 4 | 4 | 2.30 | 37 | 7 | 6 | 105.2 | 88 | 33 | 27 | 41 | 54 |
| Rick Waits | 7 | 9 | 4.00 | 26 | 22 | 0 | 123.2 | 143 | 60 | 55 | 54 | 65 |
| Team Totals | 81 | 78 | 3.47 | 159 | 159 | 46 | 1432.0 | 1361 | 615 | 552 | 533 | 928 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Joe Sparks |
| AA | Williamsport Tomahawks | Eastern League | Red Davis |
| A | San Jose Bees | California League | Gomer Hodge |
| Rookie | GCL Indians | Gulf Coast League | Jack Cassini |